Cardiocrinum cathayanum: A Stunning Lily for Your Garden

The Cardiocrinum cathayanum, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the lily family. It boasts a robust and upright stature, growing up to 150 cm tall. In spring, it develops large basal leaves that are glossy and vibrant green.

Its flowers, either milky white or light green, feature purple stripes, and boast petal-like sepals shaped like reversed narrow obovate. These attributes make it an excellent choice for indoor display and cut flower arrangements due to its high ornamental value.

I. Basic Introduction

The Buckwheat Leaf Giant Lily, or Cardiocrinum cathayanum (Wils.) Stearn, is a perennial herbaceous plant from the lily family. It can grow as tall as 150 cm.

Apart from basal leaves, it sprouts stem leaves from the base, with the lowest few often clustered together while the rest are scattered. The leaves are papery, ovate cordate or oval, with a sharp tip and a nearly heart-shaped base.

The top side is a deep green while the underside is light green. The leaf stalk broadens at the base. The plant has a racemose inflorescence; short and thick flower stalks that stretch upwards, rectangular bracts, and narrowly trumpet-shaped flowers in milky white or light green, with purple stripes inside.

The tepals are narrowly inverted lanceolate, with the outer ones coming to a sharp point and the inner ones slightly blunt.

The ovary is cylindrical, the pistil head is swollen, the capsule is nearly spherical, and the flat seeds are red-brown with membranous wings. The plant flowers from July to August and bears fruit from August to September.

The Buckwheat Leaf Giant Lily prefers a moist, cool environment with partial shade. It requires well-drained soil and cannot tolerate strong direct sunlight.

The Buckwheat Leaf Giant Lily is a bulbous flower. The plant is tall, with large basal leaves growing in spring that are glossy and vibrant green. Its flowers are either milky white or light green, featuring purple stripes, and the tepals are shaped like narrow inverted obovate, emitting a light fragrance.

Due to its high ornamental value, numerous, dense, and pure white flowers, it is an excellent choice for indoor display and cut flower arrangements. The scales and fruits of the Buckwheat Leaf Giant Lily can also be used for medicinal purposes.

II. Growth and Distribution

Growth Environment

The Buckwheatleaf Lily thrives in moist, cool, and somewhat shaded environments. It generally grows on steep slopes at an elevation of 2000 meters, nearby mountain streams or creeks, resulting in high air humidity.

The soil is rich in organic matter and has good permeability. The accompanying plants, which are about the same height as the Buckwheatleaf Lily, include fewer shrubs and herbs, but more tall deciduous broadleaf trees.

Accompanying trees: oak, Enkianthus quinqueflorus, Euonymus, walnut, hornbeam, maple, lacquer tree, Litsea cubeba, etc. Accompanying shrubs or vines: kiwi, Paederia scandens, Schisandra, Polygonum multiflorum, etc.

Accompanying herbs: tiger’s ear grass, Rhododendron, snakeberry, Impatiens, Senecio scandens, etc. It can withstand the local extreme minimum temperatures of -10 to -6°C and requires well-drained soil, not tolerating direct sunlight.

III. Morphology and Features

Perennial herb. Small bulb is 2.5 cm high with a diameter of 1.2-1.5 cm. Stems are 50-150 cm high with a diameter of 1-2 cm.

Apart from basal leaves, there are stem leaves starting about 25 cm from the base of the stem, with the lowest ones often gathered in one place, and the rest scattered; leaves are papery with a netted vein, ovate-heart-shaped or ovate, with an acute tip and a heart-shaped base, 10-22 cm long, 6-16 cm wide, dark green on the top and light green on the bottom; leaf stalks are 6-20 cm long, expanding at the base.

The racemose inflorescence has 3-5 flowers; the flower stalks are short and thick, slanting upwards, with each flower having one bract; bracts are rectangular, 4-5.5 cm long, 1.5-1.8 cm wide; flowers are narrow bell-shaped, milky white or light green, with purple stripes inside; tepals are linear-lanceolate, 13-15 cm long, 1.5-2 cm wide, with the outer circle tapering at the tip and the inner circle slightly blunt; stamens are 8-10 cm long, 2/3 the length of the tepals, anthers are 8-9 mm long; ovary is cylindrical, 3-3.5 cm long, 5-7 mm wide; styles are 6-6.5 cm long, with enlarged stigma, slightly 3-lobed.

Capsules are nearly spherical, 4-5 cm long, 3-3.5 cm wide, reddish-brown. Seeds are flat, reddish-brown, surrounded by membranous wings. Blooms from May to July, fruiting from August to September.

IV. Propagation Methods

• Treating the scales with 100mg/L of IBA for 4 hours, and soaking them in 0.1% potassium permanganate solution for 15 minutes for disinfection, can effectively improve the survival and rooting rate of the buckwheat leaf lily scales, while promoting good root growth.
  
• Using a substrate of peat soil and perlite (1:1) can enhance the survival and rooting rate of the scales, ensure the necessary nutrients for root growth, prevent root rot to some extent, accelerate the healing of scale wounds, and serve as an ideal medium for scale cutting propagation.
  
• Employing a slanting insertion method, where the scale is inserted 1/2-2/3 of its length into the substrate, can maximize the survival and rooting rate of the scales.
  
• After 25 days of cold storage at 0℃, the survival and rooting rate of the scales can be significantly increased.

V. Value and Other Attributes

Primary Value

Ornamental: The buckwheat leaf lily has a robust and attractive posture. Its large basal leaves in spring form a lotus-like shape, with shiny, beautifully shaped green leaves. It blooms in June and July with large, bright white, eye-catching, mildly fragrant flowers.

In the fall, fruits grow along the stem, resembling green gems embedded at the top of the robust flower stem. The buckwheat leaf lily can be potted and displayed in an elegant hall to appreciate its unique charm.

It can also be used to adorn flower beds, landscapes, or under trees, creating a beautiful scene. It can also be planted in groups to form a spectacular, grand garden scene. Its sturdy flower stem makes it a good material for cut flowers.

Edible: The scales of the buckwheat leaf lily are rich in starch and various nutrients and are traditionally consumed.

Ancient laborers used it as a nourishing food, often processed into powder, and frequently used it as an ingredient in eight-treasure rice, a refreshing staple in summer, which has a unique flavor. The Ainu people of Japan obtain starch from the scales.

This starch has health benefits and is a nutritious food. The fresh scales of the buckwheat leaf lily contain a variety of nutrients, including protein, fat, fiber, carbohydrates, and 17 kinds of amino acids, including seven essential amino acids.

The scales of the buckwheat leaf lily are a highly nutritious wild vegetable with a complete set of nutrients and high nutritional value. It is a high-fiber edible vegetable resource.

Medicinal: In Yunnan, the fruit of the buckwheat leaf lily is used as medicine, known for its lung-clearing, asthma-relieving, and cough-suppressing effects.

The medicine “Lily Seven”, developed from the scales of the buckwheat leaf lily, has lung-clearing, cough-suppressing, detoxifying, and stasis-dispersing effects. It can be used to treat lung-deficiency cough, whooping cough, vomiting, mastitis, and wound edema poisoning.